Building system with ventilating means



y 7, 1965 c. A. LORENZ ETAL 3,196,773

BUILDING SYSTEM WITH VENTILATING MEANS Filed Aug. 6, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENIORS CHARLES A. LOREN CORWIN G, HOCK ATTORNEYS Y 27, 1955 c. A.LORENZ ETAL 3,196,773

BUILDING SYSTEM WITH VENTILATING MEANS Filed Aug. 6, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTORS CHARLES A. LORENZ CORWIN -G. HOCKETT aoooooboooooobboo BY m,flzrm ATTORNEYS y 1965 c. A. LORENZ ETAL. 3, ,773

BUILDING SYSTEM WITH VENTILAT ING MEANS Filed Aug. 6, 1962 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS CHARLES ALORENZ CORWIN G. HOCKETT ATTORNEYfinited States The present invent-ion relatesv to building constructionand more particularly to a Ventilation system for build lugs.

inhabited buildings require ventilation to keep the internal temperaturedown to satisfactory limits, and to dissipate excessively humid air.Powered air-conditioners or attic fans can be used, but they involveexpense and difliculties of installation and maintenance, particularlyin remote areas. Windows and doors are satisfactory for admittingoutside air to rooms, but some means should be provided for passing atleast some of this air through the attic, both to ventilate the roomsand also to help cool the attic. A conventional access opening into theattic will admit some air from below, but this air will not reach allportions of the attic to cool it. In some cases the attic is omittedaltogether, so that the air from the rooms of the house all passesdirectly into the space beneath the roof. This expedient is not entirelysatisfactory, however, because the roof is heated by the sun to atemperature above the temperature of the rooms below, and this heat isradiated directly into the rooms below, because there is no interveningattic floor to interrupt this radiation.

In accordance with the present invention an effective but economicalventilation system is achieved by providing an attic space withventilation openings around its periphery to the outside atmosphere, andby interposing between the attic space and the rooms below a horizontalpartition which has numerous and widely distributed small perforationsto admit air from the rooms below into the attic space while interposinga reflective barrier to prevent substantial radiation of heat from theroof into the rooms below. The ventilation system of the invention isparticularly well adapted to the design of an all metal but neverthelesscool house well suited for tropical conditions, and for erection and usein relatively inaccessible places.

For a better understanding of the invention and its other objects,advantages and details, reference is now made to the present preferredembodiment of the invention which is shown, for purposes of illustrationonly, in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building employing the invention, withportions of the roof removed and a portion of perforated ceiling sheetpartially out of its mounting;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken along the lines 2-2 ofFIG. 1, with the lower portion of the wall broken away;

FIG. 3 is a more enlarged view, partially broken away, of the sectionshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the lines 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation, and partially in section, showingthe upper portion of the building including the roof, the trussstructure, and the ceiling; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged and partially broken away diagrammatic view of anindividual sheet forming the perforated ceiling of the building.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and initially to FIGURE1, the illustrated building 10 has an end wall 12 with windows it and adoor 16 therein, and a side wall 18 also having windows 14 therein. Theopposite end wall (not shown) and the opposite side wall 2t} havewindows and doors corresponding to those in walls 12 and 18, or can haveother arrangements of windows and doors as desired. The side walls 18and 20 extend parallel to each other and support a series of A- frametrusses 21 disposed in parallel spaced vertical planes and eachconsisting of a horizontal chord member 22, a pair of oppositelyslanting upper chord members 24 and as, and bracing members 28, suitablybolted together. A series of spaced parallel purlins 30 extend acrossand are bolted to the tops of the respective upper chord members 2:4-and 26, and corrugated roofing panels 32 are bolted on the purlins 39.

Each of the horizontal truss members 22 has a flat vertical center web34, a pair of oppositely extending horizontal flanges 36 integral withthe bottom of the web 34, and a pair of shorter horizontally extendingopposite flanges 3S integral with the web 34 and spaced above the bottomflanges 36 (FIG. 5). The flanges 36 and 38 on each side of the web 34-form a pair of oppositely facing channels which receive the side edgesof the corrugated perforated ceiling sheets 49. The sheets 40 can bemade of any suitable stiff material, such as metal, plastic or wood, butare preferably made of aluminum or aluminum alloy of the kindconventionally used for soflit purposes. In .a typical example, thesheets 40 are prepainted white on one side, are about .019 inch thick,are corrugated in sinusoidal curves having a depth of about inch and apitch of about 1% inch, and (before corrugation) are perforated withopenings 42 of about .094 inch diameter spaced inch on centers, so thatthe total area of the openings through the sheet is about 8% of thetotal sheet area before corrugation, and in the range of about 8 to 9%after corrugation. While corrugation is desirable, it is not essential,but the relative total area of the openings is important. The relativetotal area of the openings can be increased or decreased if desired, butpreferably should be within the range of about 5% to about 35% of thetotal area of the ceiling, for the purposes of the invention, becausereducing the area of the openings too much reduces air circulationexcessively, and increasing the area too much allows the roof to radiatetoo much heat directly into the rooms below and reduces the ability ofthe ceiling to reflect back light into the rooms below. If the area ofthe openings is increased, it is preferable to do so by increasing thenumber rather than the area of the openings, both for appearance and toblock entry of insects.

As shown in FIGURE 1, each ceiling sheet 40 is inserted into the ends ofthe opposite channels in a pair of adjacent horizontal truss members 22,starting on one side of the house, and is then drawn across to theopposite side of the house. This is repeated until all of the ceilinghas,

been completed (either the whole area within the walls, or any desiredpart of it). The pre-painted side of each sheet at is faced down, andthe bare aluminum surface across the top is amply reflective. Thecorrugations in the ceiling sheet increase its rigidity to help to makeit self-supporting between the supporting flanges 36 of the horizontaltruss members 22, so that the structure is easily installed andsufficiently rigid in spite of its use of light gauge sheet.

After the sheets at have been mounted in place, their ends are closed byvertical plates 44 mounted in the respective spaces bounded by the topsof the side walls, the bottom of the roofing sheets 32, and the sides ofthe trusses 21. The plates 44 can be perforated to admit air into theattic space enclosed between the ceiling sheets 4% and the roofing panel32, but this has been found unnecessary in practice, because the roofingsheets 32 have corrugations forming a series of ribs 46 and channels 48(FIG. 5) extending parallel to the upper truss members 24, and air canpass between the upper edge of the plates 24 and the under surface ofthe corrugated ribs 46, as shown in FIGURE 3.

Each end of the attic space is vented to the atmosphere through atriangular gable end 5t: (FIGS. 1 and 4) mounted across the spacebetween the tops of the respective end walls and the bottoms of thepurlins 36 projecting over the end walls. The gable end Stl overlaps theend wall sufficiently to be bolted to it, and the upper end of the gableend 50 is secured between an outside channel member 52 bolted to thepurlins and the gable end 50, on the one hand, and the upper trussmembers 24 and 26 of a truss 54 mounted on the adjacent end wall. Eachof the gable ends 59 at the opposite ends of the attic space ispreferably made of the same sheet as the ceiling sheet 40, andconsequently the perforations 42 through this sheet perm-it escape ofair from the ends of the attic space to the outside atmosphere. Someadditional air may pass between the upper edge of the gable ends and theadjacent roofing sheets 32, which are separated from the upper edges ofthe gable ends 50 by the purlins 38. However, this gap above the edgesof the gable ends 5%) can be closed, it has been found, withoutimpairing the efficiency of ventilation of the building.

The space in the building 10 below the ceiling sheets 4%) can be dividedoff into any convenient number of rooms, such as by the partition shownin FIGURE 1, without interfering with the ventilating effect of theperforated ceiling sheets 40. Each room formed by the partitions isproportionally ventilated through its ceiling, and the air passing byordinary thermal convection currents up through the perforations in theceiling can readily flow out of the attic space all around its peripherythrough the end gables 50, and through the air spaces provided by thecorrugations of the roof along the sides of the house.

While present preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention canbe otherwise embodied and practiced within the scope of the followingclaims.

We claim:

1. A ventilated building comprising walls enclosing a space, ahorizontal partition made of corrugated metal and extending across thetop of said space, a roof forming an attic space over said partition,and means forming ventilating openings to permit escape of air from saidattic space to the outside atmosphere, said walls having openings toadmit outside air into the space below said partition, and saidpartition having multiple air passages therethrough each of the order ofmagnitude of a fraction of an inch in diameter which permit air to passdirectly from the space below the partition into the attic space, saidair passages being distributed substantially uniformly over a major partof the area of the partition and having a total area of approximately 8to 9 percent of the total area of the partition.

2. A building according to claim 1 in which the openings venting theattic space to the outside atmosphere are disposed below the roof andextend substantially all around the building.

3. A building according to claim 1 in which the horizontal partitioncomprises perforated sheet corrugated aluminous metal.

4. A ventilated building with enclosed side and end walls, a roof trusssecured to the top of said side walls and extending therebetweenincluding a horizontal member and an inclined member, the inclinedmember extending diagonally upwardly from both side walls to an apexadjacent the midpoint between said side walls and in vertical alignmentwith said horizontal member to form a triangular structure, said membershaving their opposite end portions secured together adjacent said sidewalls, said horizontal member having a vertical web and oppositelydisposed bottom flanges on said Web, other oppositely disposed flangeson said web spaced from said bottom flanges to provide a space forinserting a ceiling member therebetween, a plurality of said triangularstructures being spaced from each other the length of said building,elongated corrugated ceiling members extending between said side wallsand having their opposite side edges disposed between said bottom andother flanges, said ceiling members being perforated substantiallythroughout their entire area and forming a ceiling for the building,said triangular truss structures forming an attic space immediatelyabove said ceiling members, a corrugated roof secured to said inclinedtruss members with the corrugations extending in a direction toward saidside walls, the portion of said corrugated roof directly above said sidewalls being spaced from the top of said side walls, side plate memberspositioned in the space between said roof and the top of said walls andabutting said side walls and the lower portion of said corrugations soair vents are provided by said corrugations extending substantially theentire length of said side walls, and gable plate members abutting saidend walls and extending upwardly toward said roof, said gable platemembers having ventilating openings therethrough.

5. A building according to claim 4, in which the gable plate members aremade of the same perforated corrugated sheet as the ceiling members.

6. A ventilated building comprising Walls enclosing a space, ahorizontal partition across the top of said space, a roof forming anattic space over said partition, a series of trusses supporting the roofand resting on the walls, a series of parallel spaced horizontal membersforming the lower chords of said trusses and having channels along theirsides, means forming ventilating openings to permit escape of air fromsaid attic space to the outside atmosphere, said walls having openingsto admit outside air into the space below said partition, said partitionhaving multiple openings therethrough which permit air to pass directlyfrom the space below the partition into the attic space, said partitioncomprising horizontally extending perforated sheets having theiropposite sides received in the channels of said horizontal members andsupported by said horizontal members, the perforations of saidhorizontally extending sheets being distributed over a major part of thearea of the partition and having a total area across the partitionsubstantially less than the remaining solid area of the partition.

7. A ventilated building comprising walls enclosing a space, ahorizontal partition across the top of said space, a roof forming anattic space over said partition, a series of trusses supporting the roofand resting on the walls, a series of parallel spaced horizontal membersforming the lower chords of said trusses and having channels along theirsides, means forming ventilating openings to permit escape of air fromsaid attic space to the outside atmosphere, said walls having openingsto admit outside air into the space below said partition, said partitionhaving multiple openings therethrough which permit air to pass directlyfrom the space below the partition into the attic space, said partitioncomprising horizontally extending perforated metal sheets having theiropposite sides received in the channels of said horizontal members andsupported by said horizontal members, said metal sheets havingcorrugations which extend transversely between the spaced horizontalsupporting members, the perfora tions of said horizontally extendingsheets being distributed over a major part of the area of the partitionand having a total area across the partition substantially less than theremaining solid area of the partition.

8. A ventilated building structure comprising side walls enclosing aspace, a horizontal partition across the top of said space, inclinedroof truss means secured to the top of said side walls, a corrugatedroof forming an attic space over said partition and secured to saidinclined roof truss means with the longitudinal axis of the corrugationsextending toward said side walls, the portion of said corrugated roofdirectly above said side walls being spaced from the top of said sidewalls, means forming ventilating openings to permit escape of air fromsaid attic space to the outside atmosphere including side plate memberspositioned in the space between said roof and the top of said side wallsand abutting said side walls and the lower portion of said corrugationsso air vents are provided by said corrugations extending substantiallythe entire length of said side walls, said walls having openings toadmit outside air into the space below said partition, said partitionhaving multiple air passages therethrough each of the order of magnitudeof a fraction of an inch in diameter which permit air to pass directlyfrom the space below the partition into the attic space, said airpassages in said partition being distributed substantially uniformlyover a major part of the area of the partition and having a total areaacross the partition substantially less than the remaining solid area ofthe partition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,761,180 9/ 56Krelwitz 98-29 2,978,571 4/ 61 Rosenblatt 9840 3,058,411 10/62 Hanson9840 FOREIGN PATENTS 96,361 7/60 Norway.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

MEYER PERLIN, Examiner.

1. A VENTILATED BUILDING COMPRISING WALLS ENCLOSING A SPACE, AHORIZONTAL PARTITION MADE OF CORRUGATED METAL AND EXTENDING ACROSS THETOP OF SAID SPACE, A ROOF FORMING AN ATTIC SPACE OVER SAID PARTITION,AND MEANS FORMING VENTILATING OPENINGS TO PERMIT ESCAPE OF AIR FROM SAIDATTIC SPACE TO THE OUTSIDE ATMOSPHERE, SAID WALLS HAVING OPENINGS TOADMIT OUTSIDE AIR INTO THE SPACE BELOW SAID PARTITON, AND SAID PARTITIONHAVING MULTIPLE AIR PASSAGES THERETHROUGH EACH OF THE ORDER OF MAGNITUDEOF A FRACTION OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER WHICH PERMIT AIR TO PASS DIRECTLYFROM THE SPACE BELOW THE PARTITION INTO THE ATTIC SPACE, SAID AIRPASSAGE BEING DISTRIBUTED SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY OVER A MAJOR PART OFTHE AREA OF THE PARTITION AND HAVING A TOTAL AREA OF APPROXIMATELY 8 TO9 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL AREA OF THE PARTITON.